Hanging Out

When we weren’t out and about we were usually outside playing….isn’t that weird…we were OUTSIDE in Ireland!! I remember having great weather in Ireland when we visited during 1989 and 1992.  I think the last 15 years we have had bad weather…or we’re just going at the “wrong time”. lol

Either exploring around my parents rental house OR down 100 yards at my cousins house was where you’d find us! The location of the rental home was SO ideal. Being walking distance from my cousins house was amazing. The kids were able to go down and play with toys and be around other kids AND we of course could hang out with my cousin without having to load up the car. Made things a lot easier!

 

My cousin Alan’s kids are almost 5 and just turned 3…so their ages are close enough with our kids. I loved watching them hangout!

This is Alan’s front yard…and that’s my parents new home across the way. NEIGHBORS! lol

It was so fun to watch the kids play…did they always get along…of course not. haha But thats part of being a kid…it was good for all of them!

Watching the kids play brought me back to the summers I went to Ireland as a kid. My brother and I would go over for 8-10 weeks with my mom. The whole summer spent with our family….I’m SO grateful my parents  did this with us. We created relationships and memories then BUT it became REAL when I went there parentless in 1997. That year changed my idea of family forever.

Some of us “hanging out” back when we were kids!

#galway10k

After I finished my half marathon in May I continued to sorta kinda train because my lovely cousin Alan had signed us up for a 10k while we were on vacation!  No I told him it would be super fun to do…I know most people think its crazy to work-out while vacationing BUT I thought it would be an awesome experience to do, especially with one of my closest people in my family!

So Alan and I trained a bit here and there…man…running in Ireland is A LOT different than running around Eastvale! haha  Days we ran in the wind, rain and out in the middle of the country! I don’t think Alan is used to stopping mid-run just to take a selfie either…haha Darn American!

The sites were beautiful running around Foxford. But the day came for our 10k in Galway (which is a college city about 1hr 15minutes away)  and the weather was gorgeous, the views were amazing…I was pumped.

There were about 1,000 runners…some doing the 10k some doing the 10mile.  I was a tad nervous because Alan is a fast runner…like 6 minute mile fast.  I have never ran a mile faster than 10 minutes.  The run started great…Alan had me running the first two miles under 8:30.  I was kinda freaking that going out that fast I’d die before we finished.  Which almost happened…haha. I tried slowing down BUT Alan held my hand (against my will! haha) and kinda dragged me along the last kilometer.  He was determined to get me to finish under 55 minutes…I was shooting for under 60mins.

Thanks Alan for the motivation…I love how you pushed me…even is I wasn’t happy about it at the time!  56:24 is such an amazing time…and I’m especially proud of those first 2 mile times! Our other two cheerleaders were amazing too…Yosh and Denise woke up extra early and were supportive our whole race. Thanks guys!!

After the running was done…now time to go get a wash and blow dry (lot of Irish girls will get their hair blow-dried at a salon when going out for a special occasion or sometimes JUSt because.)  I didn’t have the energy to do my hair so I thought it was a GREAT idea.  They washed…and I got a “curly blow-dry”…this is how they do it…

I won’t lie…I was  a little nervous about how she was going to get all these OUT of my hair safely.  haha But it worked out…I loved it.
 

My buddies Catherine and John got a babysitter and were able to come out with us for the night…was so awesome to be able to all be together again!!!

Love self timers!!  Our drink of choice in Galway…6 shots of vodka…a jug of water and extra ice.  We brought those Crystal Light water drops and ended up finding more IN Ireland. Made ourselves little cocktails. Drinking water all night WHILE drinking alcohol can’t be all bad right???? lol

Who is the random guy on the wall….Oh that's Padraig (pronounced Poor-ick..irish for Patrick)…John’s little brother who lives in Galway, met us after work and ended up being our AWeSOME pub crawl tour guide!  Why is he in the picture on the wall you ask…well he was in a group picture taken in the streets of Galway last year…and his MUG made the wall…its the only face that's perfect too..so funny!! 25+ drinks later we headed back to our hotel. A great night had by all. Laughs, tears, dancing and ice cream….couldn’t ask for more!!

The next morning we woke and walked around and enjoyed the city.  And no one was really hung over!! See…water is the key to success!

We’re getting old…nights out take a toll…but having little babies to come back to make getting home nice.  Its amazing to have my parents in Ireland as well and we are able to leave them with them…but I like getting back too!